I’ve worked with numerous email marketing systems and developed many content infrastructures for law and accountancy firms. The same issues crop up all the time. Successful email marketing means more than just plugging the gaps between client instructions. Clients aren’t willing to tolerate generic email blasts. Email campaigns, news related e-shots or legislation updates must be targeted and relevant to the client. As part of years of experience in email marketing, the feedback I constantly received was – not only send me relevant material but tell me why it is relevant too!
My tips for a successful email marketing programme:
Devise a ‘hymn sheet’
Be clear about the goals. Taking an ad hoc approach to client marketing emails can cause tensions and conflict internally between fee earners and marketing staff, when objectives and expectations are unclear. So put together a plan of action, with a schedule of content production and distribution, for all parties to sign up to. And remember, clients of today want to connect with law firms and accountants in a variety of ways, so email marketing should fit in with your firm’s wider marketing and promotional activities.
Don’t spray and pray. ‘Spray and pray’ emails will never perform as well as tailored emails to particular contact segments. Segmentation enables targeted email campaigns based on behavioural information or other contact data you know about each recipient. Doing so also helps to determine the right tactic for each segment. This can be done through A/B testing, which tracks the performance of two or more entirely different versions of an email message. You can try a soft-sell message to your most active subscribers while offering a significant discount to those that are less active or haven’t clicked lately.
It’s hard to overestimate how useful a really good list can be—especially when it’s been targeted to include the right groups of people. People who are interested in only one aspect of your firm may not always be interested in every part. Having separate lists so that you can tailor your email campaigns is a must.
Obtain quality data
Get a real sense of your client. You need a real sense of where your clients, prospects, intermediaries or supporters fit to effectively segment your lists. What do they want and expect from you? This can be as easy as sending out a brief survey to find out who wants to be receiving what. Be clear, and explain why you’re asking these questions. This sets expectations up front and will often result in a higher response rate. Once you know how you want to segment your lists and know how you’ll create them, you can work on filling them with subscribers.
Double opt-in. It’s not helpful to maintain that clients are avidly awaiting each of your eshots. You have to stay on your toes and make sure your contacts are able to un/subscribe. Even more so because many law firms and accountants have contact lists sourced from decade-old roller decks and Excel spreadsheets. Using double opt-in forms on websites or new client sign-up processes are a must. Double opt-in means the system sends a confirmation request to the submitted email address, requiring the owner to take an action, usually clicking another link in the email, to confirm that they are the email address owner and want to subscribe to the mail list.
Get only what you need. Think about what information is most valuable for your list and how to capture it in the briefest way possible. For example, if geographic location is needed, consider prompting only for the postcode instead of street address or phone number. An email address is the only prompt you need, but if you do ask for additional information, making it optional and give some reason or additional incentive for doing so. You can also get more information later, either directly or indirectly, after they sign up.
Reach clients wherever they are. The world of today is highly connected and clients want to connect with firms in a number of ways: email, social media, mobile and more. As a result, firms need the ability to reach clients wherever they are. Outside of using traditional tools to grow your email list, there are many unique and interesting options. These include placing a sign-up form or guest book at your place of business and adding a Join My Mailing List button to your website and your email signature.
Enrich the contact data.While segmentation is effective, it’s only as flexible as your contact data. You should look for ways to enrich contact data for purposes of targeting email campaigns by appending contact data from other sources you have available—for example, CRM databases, website behavioural data, purchase history or other contact historical data.
Create quality content
Write like a human being. Remember that your email subscribers are people too, so don’t be afraid to let your personality show. Good writing really matters in marketing, so drop all the legal and accountancy speak. Just like social media, one of the great things about email is that it has allowed firms to speak in a more casual voice with their clients. Write to your readers like they’re people, not clients or subscribers, because that’s exactly what they are.
Keep subject lines short and precise. Subject lines should be less than 50 characters, and that includes spaces. The very best subject lines—the ones that get opened the most every time—are the ones that tell exactly what’s in the email. Good subject lines should be as brief as possible, accurately reflect what’s inside and motivate the recipient to open the message. Ask yourself if this subject would stand out if it was one of the dozens of unread emails in your inbox.
Make it work hard
Brand it with a clear call to action.Ensure the content in the body of the email is well-branded, contains relevant content and has clear and compelling call-to-action links that are evident early on in the email—above the fold. These important links should always be tracked, so those who click through (or not) can be potentially targeted in the future.
Be mobile aware. Remember email is no longer just on a computer—it’s also mobile content on smartphones and tablets. As a result, be aware of how your message is delivered and displayed on different mobile devices. Think about touchscreens and how you can optimise an email to improve this part of the client experience. For some, mobile is read offline, which limits real-time offers in the content. On the other hand, mobile does let you do some things better, such as target by location.
Constantly evaluate impact.The beauty of email marketing is the statistical insight the technology offers. Track the results on a regular basis, readership stats, open rates and the like, and you can amend and focus your activities to gain most impact. Perhaps Tuesdays produce higher open rates than Thursdays. It’s valuable intelligence.
Our opinion
E-marketing has been part of all of our lives since the proliferation of email. But what I’ve found is many professional service firms are at a relatively low maturity stage when it comes to email marketing. Their programmes are usually ‘spray and pray’ systems without goals, objectives, propositions or even a response mechanism for curious recipients who may wish to follow up. Professional services is not alone; I have experienced similar issues in retail. .HTML e shots are seen as low cost mechanisms to drive sales. Campaigns can be built cheaply, so what the heck. Zero imagination. Little thought. Send it out. Tiny return. Damage to recipients perception of your brand.
Leading firms don’t necessarily invest more in email marketing than their competitors. It’s not a ‘money’ thing. It’s more of a ‘recognition’ thing. What these firms recognise is that email marketing, when done properly, can create leads. It can play a major role in client engagement. Email marketing is a great way to fill the gap between work instructions. It can also strengthen brand perception, especially if the brand is synonymous with thought and knowledge leadership. There are a lot of benefits to be gained. Where these firms excel is in overcoming the barriers to email marketing so that they can reap those benefits.
